Tag Archives: Chantal

Day 228 – Good-byes

He is checking out our guesthouse ...

He is checking out our guesthouse …

Our last day in Chiang Mai had come. At this point, I wasn’t keen on debating with Flo anymore if he could ride the bike or not. On Monday, the doctor had told him that his recovery will take another week. Leaving Chiang Mai on Saturday seems close enough so he got his wish.

This made today our last day in this city. Walking towards Angel’s Secret to repeat our amazing brunch experience from a couple of day’s ago, we spotted Chantal’s bike all packed up and ready to leave. So we waited around for a chance to say good-bye to her before she rides off towards Myanmar as well.

Chantal's chook chaser, fully loaded in its current setup.

Chantal’s chook chaser, fully loaded in its current setup.

In the end, we spoke for quite a while (she was waiting on another person to show up for an interview) about where we had been and where we will go, sponsorship and meeting up again in Europe. Hugs, waves and a “we’ll stay in touch” later, we were the only ones left in Chiang Mai.

Angel’s Secret was really nice again. Food can just be so yummy. *grin* We decided that food really is the best way of spending our last day here as Chiang Mai is full of good food.

Thus, after an afternoon spent writing for the blog and getting the GPS track for Laos ready, we celebrated with more food in the evening. New Delhi, the Indian restaurant we had been to before, was visited again. Their food is delicious. I actually took a photo of the sign this time…somehow I got the feeling that they have to battle against a bad reputation of Indian food. The sign basically states that almost everything is home-made and you are welcome to complain if the food is not up to your standards. But the food is sooooooo good.

Day 226 – Traveler’s meeting

Epic food hipster shot - it was tasty, too.

Epic food hipster shot – it was tasty, too.

It was late yesterday…a nice long sleep-in was in order. Around 11am, we actually left the guesthouse in search of breakfast. Since it was so late already, we had the vague plan of making this breakfast more of a brunch and save on lunch. Arriving at Angel’s Secret, they had an extensive brunch menu and thus, brunch it was. Amazing brunch to be honest. We had everything from a big tea pot with apricot cookies to a French chocolate croissant, muesli with fresh fruit and yogurt to a big hearty egg sandwich. So yummy!

However, I didn’t feel too well today. Nothing serious, just likely that I caught Flo’s runny nose. So back to bed for more sleep and some home-y you tube shows.

In the evening, a big traveler’s meeting happened. Leonie, Peter and Chantal were still in town who we wanted to meet anyway and Chantal met more overlanders at her hostel who were happy to meet up, too. In the end, there were nine of us: Pia, Pascal, Frederic, Raphael, Chantal, Peter, Leonie, Flo and I. Quite the big gathering actually. First, I wasn’t sure if I’d be up for it but in the end, I was super happy that I went even if I left early to go back to bed. It was a nice meeting and our last chance to see off Amsterdam to Anywhere who will be leaving for Myanmar tomorrow.

Day 225 – Reunions

One of the great inspiring websites for motorcycle travelers

One of the great inspiring websites for motorcycle travelers

The days get pretty same-y after a while. We have either done the homework we had or can not do it until I am healed up a bit more. That, still, is like watching rice grow. Agonizingly slow (yes, I am aware that one week is not a long time for an injury and it could be much worse – I am just not that good with waiting). I spent a little bit of time following up another potential option for shipping the bike, thanks to Peter.

Luckily, there are two things to keep us in good spirit: Good food and good company. The first one came in the form of delicious Indian food. The naan was the best we had in a long while. Once again the Lonely Planet held true, and judging by the long list for Chiang Mai, we won’t have to settle for bad food until we leave. Ok, well, we did actually, trying to grab a cheap bite before meeting up that night … but that was our own fault. 😉

Leonie and Peter - Amsterdam to Anywhere

Leonie and Peter – Amsterdam to Anywhere

That evening, we were set to see Leonie and  Peter again – plus Chantal (Chick on a chook chaser), who was on her way to Chiang Mai that day. We have last seen her in Dili and followed her trip updates on Facebook and her blog since. Once more, it was a lovely evening. We talked to Leonie and Peter for an hour or so about this, that and everything before Chantal joined us. It is amazing every time how often we meet fellow travelers and it just ‘clicks’ and after only a handful of hours you end up talking about real heartfelt stuff that one normally only shares with good friends.

Chantal arrived and filled us in on her latest exploits. So we hung around, nursing the one

Chantal - Chick on the chook chaser

Chantal – Chick on the chook chaser

drink we all had budget for until we got finally booted out near midnight again. Best of all, we did not even have to say goodbye, since we are all staying another day in town!

Day 78 – Communities

Musings

“Hi, the ship has arrived, can you come in for the paperwork tomorrow?” that was last night– by 7:50 am today I found myself walking through the bed of the Comoro River. ANL open at 8 am, at least on paper. I am not desperate at all …

The dwellings on the bank do not appear to be strictly "legal"

The dwellings on the bank do not appear to be strictly “legal”

But back to the river: There is only one road bridge over the Comoro River, about 2 km north of where we live, a suburb under the unofficial name Delta. ANL is about as far away from the bridge again, so all in all a 5 km drive. On the other hand, it is maybe 1 km west from here as the crow flies. Luckily for me, it is still the dry season, so there currently is no Comoro River, just a free for all gravel pit buzzing with lorries, diggers and sorting sieves. That is how a gold rush must look like …

8:06 am, I am at the office, the staff is not yet in full strength. I apologize in Tetum for being so impolitely on time. Once the staff arrived, it was all a matter of maybe 5 minutes and another $50 US and all that is left is for the container to arrive and for me to pick up the bike sometime in the next 2 days. As quick as that I was out in the dust again, finding my way through the illegal buildings hugging the riverbanks and back on my way. Continue reading

Day 77 – Chilling at Barry’s place

Originally, we had planned to take the water taxi back to Dili at 9.30am. However, yesterday night Barry told us that the water taxi is booked for a diving trip and thus will only make a trip at 3pm. Since we had nothing planned except for waiting for the bike, it didn’t bother us too much. Almost another full day on Ataúro with time to read and chill sounds promising.

The aforementioned "platforms" - great chill out.

The aforementioned “platforms” – great chill out.

Breakfast was lovely again, this time with pancakes. The usual eating room was booked for a full day workshop so we sat outside in the shade, having a lovely conversation with two German travellers, Lüder and Renate.

Afterwards, we occupied one of the “platforms” to read and write to our heart’s content. We watched as one of the huts at the beach got a new roof in the traditional manner and a veranda was added to the hut. Since not a lot happened, I’ll use the space to describe Barry’s place some more.

Heading over to Ataúro, Flo and I were almost certain that we would have no reception and no power so we left the laptop in Dili. As soon as we were in Beloi, it turned out that ‘no reception’ is a first world problem. Even in Adara, on the other side of the island, Flo’s mobile phone had a full signal. I am unsure about the power situation but Barry’s place at least had solar panels so we could have charged the phone or our laptop if we had brought either with us.

Ladle, pot, some soap. It was clean and just right for us

Ladle, pot, some soap. It was clean and just right for us

There is no sewer system on Ataúro so a long drop served as that. It must be quite good and efficient version, as despite a temperature of 30 degrees, the smell was minimal. I particularly liked the shower: A generous room with a basin full of water and two ladles to fill water into a pot with tiny holes above you and have it rain down on you. It is particularly nice if you have someone there who refills the pot constantly while you have a nice long shower. 🙂

Since we had to stay till 3pm, we had a last lunch on the island. Barry gave us the lunch for free, which was very lovely. Having fresh salad is always a treat but especially if it is prepared for you. Makes it feel more like a holiday.

At 3pm Tony’s water taxi and the dive crew arrived. They then had to unload all the air bottles so that we set out at 3.30pm. The taxi was rather small for crossing 35km of open sea and (at least in my humble opinion) the ride was rough. It was all I could do to hold on to the handrails and stare at the horizon…otherwise I’d probably been seasick. Flo enjoyed the ride way more than I did, looking out for flying fish (apparently there were many) and later for the Darwin trader. The ANL Darwin trader is the ship on which Rocinante is supposed to come over to Dili. It was scheduled to arrive at 9am this morning so Flo had his fingers crossed that he might see it in the harbour or, if we are lucky, already docked.

Oh what a joyous sight!

Oh what a joyous sight!

We were lucky: The Darwin trader was docked in the wharf and looked as if it was half empty already. Flo just stopped short of jumping for joy. 😉

Having land back under your feet is an amazing feeling, I can tell you. The ride over had taken 1 ½ hours so it started to get late in Dili. I will never really get used to the fact that near the equator, the sun simply sets at 6.30pm, no matter if it is summer or winter. It really cuts your daylight time quite short.

Hubert and Alex hard at work at the infamous Timor Backpacker

Hubert and Alex hard at work at the infamous Timor Backpacker

We had one last thing to do today: Walk past the backpacker in Dili and see if we can find any more motorcycle travellers. Chantal had told us about two more guys riding BMWs who are supposed to be staying there. It didn’t take us long to find them as they were out in the yard taking their bikes apart to clean them for the Australian biosecurity check. Hubert, a German traveller, and Alex, an Italian guy, took their work pretty seriously. There was even some scrubbing of a tire with a toothbrush. We had a chat and decided to have a drink together tomorrow night, once Chantal is back from Ataúro island as well.

Day 75 – Beep, beep, beep…

Twice in one week, the alarm clock went off before sunrise. This time, the diabolical sound put an end to our peaceful slumber at 4am. I must admit that it was a small solace to know that Herman would break the peaceful slumber with us to drive us to the wharf.

Crowd waiting at the gate to embark

Crowd waiting at the gate to embark

At the waterfront we found that a crowd had already gathered, sleep drunken, in the dark in front of the closed gate. Our tickets stated 4:30am, it was 5am now and nothing but goods was allowed through the gate – no reason to worry in Dili.

We shuffled through the gate at about 6am in the end, which was all well for us. The wait gave us a chance to get to talk to a group of malae waiting there with us. It turned out they had another motorcycle traveller in their midst. Chantal, recently from Australia, originally from the Netherlands, is on a very similar route to ours. Continue reading